Will Westminster Council's new proposals for Oxford Street help retailers?

Shoppers and urbanists will be interested in recent developments in Westminster where the Council Cabinet has recently approved plans to upgrade Oxford Street. Key measures include increasing the street area given over to pedestrians, the creation of new public spaces including a piazza at Oxford Circus, and a ban on commercial vehicles that are not zero emission.

Projects to bring about the vision, backed by a council fund of £150 million, will commence subject to the result of a consultation exercise which ends on 16 December 2018.

So no pedestrianisation then? No, that was proposed in a previous version of the plans, but the Council dropped it following a previous consultation exercise that revealed opposition to the plans from at least some interested parties. That did not go down well with the Mayor and air quality campaigners, and they are unlikely to be very impressed with the new proposals. There are some measures designed to curb emissions, to be sure, but even if they are all brought forward, the effect will be much less than if the whole area had gone traffic free.

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Westminster Council approves new Oxford Street strategy for public consultation